A Compendium of UNHCR’s 60 Years- Including Case Studies on IT Communities, Vietnamese Boatpeople, Chilean Exile and Namibian Repatriation

This compendium synthesizes innovations of the UN High Commissioners for Refugees (UNHCR) since 1951. The book bridges the gap between academic and field work and uses Joseph Nye’s concept of «soft power» as a methodological approach for understanding and solving political and ethical refugee protection dilemmas. Extending the refugee legal framework (1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol), UNHCR has increasingly used international human rights law, innovative technologies and new partners. Refugee protection is a responsibility primarily of states. Challenges are: considering increasing power diffusion (Nye) from states to non-state actors and balancing IT potentials with security risks.